Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfred Mutua is at the centre of an explosive legal battle involving child custody, parental responsibility, and allegations of extortion, according to court documents filed at the Milimani Children’s Court.

In an explosive affidavit filed in court, Dr Mutua reveals the details of a brief, transnational romance with FMM, a Dubai-based Kenyan citizen, which he claims snowballed into a toxic confrontation following the birth of their daughter in August 2023.

Dr Mutua is now seeking the intervention of the Children’s Court, alleging continuous phone harassment and extortion attempts by FMM, who lives and works in Dubai.

According to the CS, the woman threatened to expose him on social media over alleged neglect of their child if he failed to provide her and the minor with foreign residency, specifically in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Europe, and a foreign passport.

Through his lawyer, Cecil Miller, Mutua also alleges that FMM demanded access to government tenders and a blank cheque for her to assign a financial figure of her choosing.

“The demands are outrageous and horrid, taking into account that I am a government employee, and some of her demands violate Chapter Six of the Constitution on the integrity of public servants,” said Dr Mutua.

The Cabinet Secretary is petitioning the court for an equal (50:50) sharing of parental responsibilities, stating he is prepared to cover the child’s maintenance and medical care.

“I am ready and willing to take care of the minor and to take up 50 per cent of parental responsibility within the bounds of the law,” he states in the affidavit, maintaining both his legal and moral obligation as a parent.

The affair began in Dubai in 2022, where the pair met at the Dubai Mall and entered into what Mutua characterizes as a “brief and inconsistent” relationship.

Dr Mutua recounts that they never cohabited, nor entered into any formal or traditional marriage arrangement.

“The defendant and I have never cohabited, nor did we have any relationship that can be construed as a marriage. Our relationship was brief as we only saw each other when I would travel to the United Arab Emirates, where the defendant was working at the time. In 2023, she fell pregnant and informed me that I was the father,” he says. 

The situation intensified after the woman informed Mutua that he had fathered her child. The woman, in her own filings, confirms the relationship and the birth of their daughter in 2023. 

She has also filed a counterclaim demanding over Sh6 million in backdated child support and full parental responsibility over the child.

“The parties had a brief romantic relationship that resulted in the birth of the minor, a girl named RAA, born on August 28, 2023, in Dubai,” her affidavit reads.

She accuses Dr Mutua of neglecting the child emotionally, psychologically, and financially, despite DNA test results confirming his paternity.

Initially sceptical, Mutua requested a DNA test before accepting legal responsibility. 

“The Plaintiff (Mutua) indicated that he would only assume parental responsibility over the minor subject to a positive DNA test,” she admits. 

Court documents indicate that the test was eventually conducted on December 11, 2023, and confirmed on December 26, 2024, that Dr Mutua is indeed the biological father. 

However, according to his claims, this was only the beginning of a cascade of demands from the woman. Dr Mutua claims that following the DNA confirmation, FMM made a series of extravagant demands, which he has filed as exhibits before the court. 

“The Defendant has continuously tried to abuse my position as Cabinet Secretary to make the following demands,” Dr Mutua states.  

They include the issuance of a foreign passport for the child and the granting of permanent residency in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or within Europe. 

Additionally, she wants to be offered access to government tenders as a means to “keep her busy,” along with the possibility of an appointment to a government mission abroad.

Further enticements included a blank cheque, allowing her to input any figure of her choosing, as well as the provision of a home or parcel of land on which to build a residence for her daughter.  

He has submitted WhatsApp messages to the court as evidence, in which FMM allegedly spells out her requests in blunt language

“I want either US residency, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, even Europe, for me and my daughter (we are government workers being sent on a mission). I want government tenders… I want a blank cheque (I won’t put an insane number) … Can’t wait any longer. Have no job, no income. Fulus Khalas!”

FMM opposes shared parental responsibility and wants Dr Mutua to shoulder the entire financial burden.

“The law requires the plaintiff to assume parental responsibility of the child; and this court should order him to shoulder 100 per cent parental responsibility,” her counterclaim reads.

But she flatly denies claims that the CS promised 50 per cent support: “To the contrary, the plaintiff in fact promised to shoulder 100% parental responsibility.” 

The woman alleges that despite the DNA confirmation, Dr Mutua has failed to honour this promise. 

She has even filed a letter dated November 18, 2024, where she urged the former Machakos Governor to help her in supporting their daughter.  

“The purpose of this letter is to demand that you immediately arrange for the DNA to be conducted both at a government facility and a private facility. Thereafter, we shall discuss the issue of child maintenance. From your discussions with the undersigned, you assured that you will not be a deadbeat father,” the woman wrote to Dr Mutua in a demand letter. 

“I have had actual custody of the minor since birth and have fully undertaken all her expenses throughout, including food, shelter, clothing, and medical care. From the date of the minor’s birth, Mutua has neither looked after the minor nor catered emotionally, psychologically, or financially. He has abdicated and neglected his parental responsibilities as a biological father to the minor,” she adds in the documents.

Her lawyer, Paula Ng’etich, says that she has tried numerous times to prevail upon the CS to help her in supporting the minor, but he indicated that he would support the minor after a DNA test was conducted to prove paternity of the child.

“Despite demanding the DNA test, the plaintiff refused to pay for the DNA test for the defendant and the minor, and as a result, the defendant paid Sh30,920, which she now claims. Despite the positive DNA test, Mutua has refused to take up his parental responsibilities, hence necessitating this counterclaim,” says the advocate. 

Instead, she claims, the CS has refused to provide any financial or emotional support for their daughter.
FMM accuses Dr Mutua of reneging on his promises and outlines the expenses she has borne since the child’s birth, totalling Sh6,066,680. 

She lists detailed expenses she has incurred since the child’s birth, ranging from rent, food, clothing, transport, and medical care, both in Dubai and Kenya. 

In her court papers, the woman lays out a detailed ledger covering the 564 days from her daughter’s birth with CS Mutua from August 2023 to March 2025. 

According to her account, monthly house rent alone totalled Sh313,428.75, accumulating to Sh3,595,731 over the period.  

Basic living expenses, food, groceries, and toiletries are listed at Sh30,000 per month, summing to Sh564,000. She also includes a one-time payment of Sh34,650 for car insurance in Dubai. 

Additional costs encompass clothing, shoes, house help, utilities, and entertainment, culminating in a three-night birthday celebration for her daughter at Dubai’s Grand Hyatt, costing Sh69,800. 

Local travel-related expenses within Kenya, including transport, accommodation, and flights, further inflate the total to an exact Sh6,066,680. 

Further, the woman is asking the court to order Dr Mutua to contribute to future expenses, including school fees, uniforms, medical needs, and even flight tickets and Kenyan passport processing fees for the child. 

Notably, she also seeks reimbursement of Sh30,920 for a DNA test, an expense she claims was incurred after Mutua requested the test but allegedly declined to cover the cost. 

In a particularly emotional request, the mother is also seeking to legally change the child’s name, explaining that the original name was given by a judge in a Dubai court under Shariah law, and she now wants a name that reflects her own cultural identity. 

However, the request to change the name of the minor on the birth certificate has been opposed by the CS.  

“Our client is not agreeable to a change of name on the birth certificate and insists that the same should remain as it is until the child is of age. He wishes to state that the child is a Kenyan citizen and can change his name once he attains majority age,” says lawyer Miller in response, on behalf of the CS.

On education, he says the CS is proposing to pay half of the school fees once the child attains school-going age for nursery school and upon turning 12 years, he says he would be enrolled in a public school, which is free.

And in secondary school, Dr Mutua proposes to pay for a Kenyan government school and on house upkeep, he proposes to pay a third of housing costs at Kenyan rates. 

“It is therefore imperative and in the best interest of the child that the plaintiff be compelled to take up 100 per cent of his parental responsibilities in respect of the minor,” her filing reads. 

Among the other orders Ms FMM is seeking are full legal and actual custody of the child, the issuance of a new birth certificate reflecting Dr Mutua’s name as the father, and approval for the issuance of a Kenyan passport for the child.  

She further denies extortion, threats, or social-media scare tactics, demanding strict proof for each accusation

Ms FMM explains that the alleged demands were in fact proposals made in response to the Minister’s request for her desires on how to solve the maintenance questions. 

She accepts the DNA results confirm Dr Mutua’s biological connection, and asserts Kenyan law mandates his support: “The law requires the Plaintiff to assume parental responsibility … this court should order the Plaintiff to shoulder 100 per cent parental responsibility for the minor.” 

Dr Mutua, alleges that her demands are not only unethical but border on extortion and violate Chapter 6 of the Kenyan Constitution concerning the integrity of public officers. 

“Her actions are outrageous and horrid. I am a public servant, and some of her demands are not only unlawful but amount to an abuse of public trust,” he says. 

After Mutua allegedly failed to yield to her requests, Ms FMM is said to have published private details about the paternity of the child on social media, specifically Instagram, publicly naming him as the father. 

“She has breached the minor’s right to privacy, knowing very well that I am a high-profile member of society. This reckless action places the child in unnecessary danger,” Dr Mutua said.  

He accuses his former partner of weaponising the child’s identity to embarrass and manipulate him into meeting her personal demands. 

The CS has applied for orders restraining Ms FMM from publishing any information on the minor’s paternity in print or social media. 

Lawyer Miller says if Ms FMM is not restrained, the CS is apprehensive that the minor’s safety is at risk, since he is a high-profile member of society and anyone with a score to settle would target the minor.

“I have approached this court seeking to protect the minor’s right to privacy as his father from unnecessary exposure, which is geared at embarrassing and extorting me. I only seek to protect my child from unnecessary exposure and uphold my responsibilities,” says the CS. 

The case has taken a further sensational turn with deeply personal text messages exchanged between the two now forming part of the court record. 

In one such message, Ms FMM directly challenges Dr Mutua’s assertion that she may have “impregnated herself.” 

“Hi Alfred… I wanted to refresh your memory that you didn’t use a condom on me. You’ve stated multiple times that I impregnated myself. At first, I thought it laughable, but I will request a lie detector test if you keep up with the lie.” 

In another message, she expresses desperation: “I am left with zero options… No job. I’m in Kenya with my child. You have REFUSED any obligations.”